Murky laws hobble judges weighing lifechanging deals for accident victims

Last weekend, the Star Tribune published the first part of a special report examining a little-regulated financial industry that persuades accident victims to give up years, even decades of financial security — sometimes for pennies on the dollar. For part two of the investigation, we look into the judges who make the final decisions on these deals. Our reporting shows that a lack of guidelines leads some judges to approve payments, even if they feel the deal is against the victim's best interest.